Remember that great and inspiring post about how I was going to start writing every day, inspired by my own progress in jogging? Yeah, sorry about that. I .....uuuuuuuh... Steve Buscemi trapped me in an internet and bear proof container in Fargo and I only just escaped upon discovering the door was a push, not a pull. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Well, as my Twitter followers may have noticed, I haven't been jogging. But do not fret, I have not betrayed myself or you. I have been engrossed in the P90X Extreme Home Fitness program. My boyfriend had mentioned it as something he wanted to try to build muscle and shed a few vanity pounds and I said I would do it with him for support. And I tell you, o faithful readers (i.e. Dad, Dawn, and Patrick), it is everything it promises to be. Extreme and at home.
I love it though. I'm completely obsessed, at the risk of alienating myself from my loved ones. I talk about my experience and progress every chance I get. And I have become one of those people who turn down food by explaining "I've already had my carb for the day". Yes... I am a fitness douche. It's gotten to the point that both friends and family have begun to tease me about my "diet" (at 120lbs and a size 4 jeans, people don't what to hear me say "diet"). I'm sure even Andy, my forever patient and even tempered boyfriend, must be sick of my bad workout jokes, referencing the trainers in the videos as if we actually knew them, and constantly spouting the catch phrases from the videos.
The Before Shot
But for the program to be effective, you have to dedicate and commit yourself. And folks, I am most certainly committable! Read on for more about my progress and how the program works.
The program has been just amazing. I'm only in week three and am already noticing a difference. Like what a struggle it is just to get my arms high enough to brush my teeth.
For people not familiar, the program is actually quite simple, there is a different workout every day of the week and it follows the proven method of alternating aerobic and anaerobic (cardio and strength building). All three programs follow the pattern of Anaerobic, Aerobic, and repeating until the seventh day which is rest or Stretch X. How intensive the Anaerobic portion is depends on which program you follow (Classic, Doubles, or Lean). This general pattern happens for three weeks, followed by a Rest week before the next three weeks of the next phase, another Rest week then the final four weeks. Each phase has it's own Adaptive, Mastery, and Recovery period, essentially learning how to do the moves, perfecting your form and technique and finally gearing up and getting ready to take it to the next level in the next Adaptive period. The program allows for some flexibility in your schedule and they emphasis that if you do not feel ready for the next phase to continue with your mastery until you're ready to move up. It is a set up for guaranteed success if you follow both the fitness and nutritional guidelines (a smart move in ANY fitness program).
To briefly explain the diet, get ready to pay way more attention to your food than you ever thought. I knew I have never been a big eater but I never realized how under the FDA guidelines I am! According to the plan I need 1800 kcals!. The first few days I was struggling to make it to 1200 kcals! The nutritional plan has three phases to fit the phases of the program but they are far more flexible in which one you are in. The first is the Fat Shredder, which is designed to do exactly that. You eat a ratio of 30% carb, 50% protein, and 20% fat. As a pescatarian (fish eater), this is a lot harder to do than I thought. Even after caving and switching to meat, I was still falling very short, and struggling to keep my carb intake low. So be prepared to supplement. The other phases, Energy Booster (40%-40%-20%) and Endurance Maximizer (60%-20%-20%) are meant to match with Phase 2 and 3 of the workouts but if you find yourself burning out of energy while in the Fat Burner stage, you can move up or if you feel you've still got a few more pounds to lose before you can effectively begin toning, you can stay back in the Fat Burner. You also have to determine your caloric needs, Level 1, 2, 3. It is very customizable and you're not restricted from anything, just limited. The point is to teach you to make smart food choices, compromises (Okay I can the beer now or the ice cream later, not both) and sustainable habits that will continue your success after completion of the program.
As far as the programs go, you have more options. Andy is doing Doubles, which for the first phase is exactly like the Classic. In Classic, you follow the pattern described earlier, but with Doubles, when he gets to the ramp up in the second phase, he follows the same schedule but adds the Cardio X workout to his Anaerobic days. Sounds simple but keep in mind the Cardio X is an hour of almost non-stop aerobic activity and the weight exercises, 50 minutes themselves, are going to have you sweating already if you're doing it right.
I am following the Lean program, so upon completion of the program, I won't be confused for an Eastern European "Female" Olympian or a Klingon going through chemo. The lean program is also Anaerobic, Aerobic, but the first day is calisthenics, which is using the body's own resistance to build strength and flexibility. You do use some weights for a few of the exercises but nothing that should limit you from doing more reps. The focus is to build more lean muscle and to tone rather than to bulk up.
Oh and when I say bulk up, I don't mean the useless muscle you see on some body builders, the kind that rival most Buicks for size but then can't bend over to pick up a kitten. There is a great deal of focus on stretching and developing flexibility and range of motion. The emphasis being on safety and injury prevention. No matter if it is an anaerobic or aerobic day you begin with a warm up and finish with a cool down, both with static and ballistic stretching. You are shown safe and effective methods, encouraged to breath into the stretch and take it to the max without EVER getting into the danger zone. That is how it is through out the entire program, you are encouraged to go to the max, accept your limits and work to push your limit further little by little every workout, never to go beyond and break your limit, which could put yourself at risk of injury, exhaustion, or getting flat out frustrated and giving up. Basically keeps you from hitting...
THE WALL!!!
Every four weeks you have the Rest Week, which is a terrific misnomer. You rest from muscle building and have plenty of Cardio to keep you from slagging off. Yes, in the "Rest Week" you will sweat. You will stretch. You will keep you're heart in the target cardio zone. You will wonder when the actual "rest" part kicks in. What you don't realize it is giving your developing muscles a chance to relax and repair before you break into the next phase and thus a higher level. That's the smart thing about the P90X system, it disguises that point in many programs that people plateau. Instead of a steady routine of weight lifting and gradually increase weight (which if you're like me, gets more boring than difficult) they utilize the "muscle confusion" which is essentially a fancy way to say variety. The workouts essentially will work out the whole body in different groups but depending on which routine you're doing or which group you're focusing on that day, you attack the same muscles and ask them to take on the same load from different positions and in different ways. A plank to chaturanga push up asks the triceps to handle the body's weigh, and so does over hand pull ups but in such a different way. Go ahead, try one, I'll wait. You tell me which one you want to be cross at more. The Ab Ripper X workout has you do several abdominal exercises, doled out in 25 reps of each, focusing each time on a slightly different section of the abs for roughly 25 minutes. Now if you told me to 340+ crunches I'd laugh in your face and probably suggest for you to do something rather undignified. But that is exactly what you've done by the end of Ab Ripper X! The point being this method gives your muscles a more realistic and usable form and breaks up the tedium of some routines and gives you goals you can actually accomplish.
And how am I doing you may ask? Well as I've said, I'm in week 3, day 17. I slipped up a little bit over the weekend due to having two mothers to celebrate (one for giving me life and the other for giving me the love of my life). But I merely have shifted down and today will be a hell day akin to the doubles work out (Shoulders and Back, Ab Ripper X and adding the Cardio X, workout that I missed). But otherwise it's been pretty easy to keep up, it's a little over an hour out of every day. I grunt, I sweat, I yell at Tony Horton, I yell at myself, I burn, get jealous of /inspired by Dreya Weber, I breath through the pain, I get distracted by my cats (who crawl all over my yoga mat trying to figure out what I'm doing), but at the end of it all, I finish feeling better and more accomplished. I have energy to take on the world. I contemplate going back and doing the Cardio X or Stretch X for a little extra. Then I try to stand up and that knocks all the vinegar right out of me.
But there's always that feeling of worth it. Both Andy and I are feeling better and doing better in each work out. We're both noticing a strengthening in the core, tighter looking tummies and and overall feeling of stronger and fitter. The other day I was walking past a mirror and was struck at the amount of definition in my thighs. I've always had pretty killer legs, but I can actually see the different muscles in the quad instead of just one lump of power. My calves are already back to my pedi-cabber days and my arms are looking more toned. To see that kind of progress on someone who is already pretty fit and active just speaks loads for the program.
And what's my favourite part of the program? Cool down and Stretch X by far! But then again, if I wasn't working hard, "bringing it" and "pushing play" every day, then I wouldn't be feeling those stretches! Hard work a determination will always make the rewards, no matter how simple, that much greater! And on that note, off to my hell work.
Disclaimer:I am not a professional trainer or athlete, nor am I nutritionist or really any kind of know it all. Everything I've said is simply meant to express my own journey and help others find encouragement on their own. Please understand that I am already pretty fit to begin with and this program is NOT meant to get you in shape, but rather for fit people who want to take it to the next level. Feel free to leave comments with any questions, advice, corrections, etc etc and I will answer honestly, make corrections when necessary, and reference any thing I am not capable of advising myself.
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